Reviewed on: PC

Modern American JRPG(!?)

And what a pleasant surprise BattleChasers is!

I confess that in the first few moments I was a little worried about BattleChasers. For those who don’t know, BattleChasers is a comic book series – somewhat underground – that enjoyed relative success in the late 90s, under the unmistakable pencils of Joe Madureira ─ who, not by chance, directed Darksiders and also provided art for Marvel Super Heroes (the CAPCOM one), Gekido: Urban Fighters and, obviously, Battle Chasers: Nightwar.

This general direction is reflected in spheres we usually saw in Vigil Games titles. It is no surprise, though, since one of Vigil’s founders, Joe Madureira himself, is a co-founder of Airship Syndicate, the studio that brought Battle Chasers: Nightwar to life. The game’s art direction is really cool, because at every moment we have the feeling of being in the pages of the namesake comic, whether through the presentation of the dialogue typical of comics: somewhat good-natured, very sarcastic, in typical little speech balloons; through the art which, although not cel-shading, is very reminiscent of it; or through the constant use of my beloved exaggeration. The sheer size of Calibretto, the War Golem, doesn’t let me lie.

The game’s soundtrack is nothing special and, although it has some very cool pieces, it is no more than bread-and-butter: basic and does its job well, without great moments. The only drawback is the voice acting, which sounds somewhat weak, almost amateurish.

The story is equally simplistic, following the line of “Stop the necromancer from doing his necromancy and save the world”, but the way this is painted is what makes Battle Chasers above average. Your team is made up of the main characters of the series, who are clichés but well established: Gully, daughter of a former hero of the world who inherits his magical gauntlets, serving as the tank in the game; Garrison, your hero with cape, sword and muscles. And damage, of course.; Knolan the old mage; Red Monika, first-rate gunslinger; Calibretto, the gentle (steel) giant (AND HEALER!!!!). Besides these, Alumon, a Demon Hunter (an original character of the game) rounds out the cast, whose designs are 90s to the max, with the striking lines and direction, once again, of Joe Madureira.

Let me tell you something: Battle Chasers: Nightwar is an RPG with roots buried in classic lands, giving off aromas of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and, especially, Breath of Fire every minute of play. I don’t say this because of the simple but fun fishing mini-game, but because of several other factors. The turn-based combat system is classic to the max, with some interesting modern touches that give the game a freshness, avoiding an old-timer look: each character action takes a certain amount of time to carry out (time measured in turns, shown on a side bar), meaning not all actions are instant and the player must take that into account. Another very interesting factor is that the game urges the player to adopt a more active stance in combat through the Overcharge mechanic.

Overcharge is added to the character through basic attacks – which aren’t limited to just one, since as you level up the characters you get access to other basic attacks – to your character’s SP bar, working as an “extra”. This mechanic encourages the use of abilities (which are not few) and, as an addition, some abilities even use Overcharge as a modifier, adding even more effects to them. We also have the Burst mechanic, which is shared by the party and works in the grand Limit Break style, with really cool and competent animations.

Do I need to say how strategic and not simplistic the battles are? No, right?

Great.

As mentioned several times before, it is a classic with a fresh feel. Recent systems that can’t be missing from today’s games, such as a crafting system and random items with several different rarities, in the grand Diablo style, give a new face to something that gives off Eastern RPG classicism.

But something strange is the exploration: divided into two distinct moments, the game has us walk through the overworld in a… peculiar way, to say the least. This ended up making the game a bit dull — even repetitive. However, when we are exploring the dungeons ─ whose maps are random, with three difficulty levels ─ things become really interesting, shifting the game to an isometric standard where much happens in real time: enemies can (and will!) attack you before you enter a battle, for example. Another really cool thing about dungeon exploration is each character’s field abilities, which can perform a unique feat a fixed number of times. Calibretto heals the team while Garrison can sneak quickly past enemies without alerting them.

The level of character customization is interesting. It isn’t anything very deep or complicated to pick up, but it brings a fresh modern feel to something so classic, once again, with the possibility of investing points in abilities that change your attributes. All in a friendly and hardcore way: easy to learn, hard to master.

In conclusion, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a JRPG made outside Japan that, if it weren’t for the obvious Americanized style, could easily pass for a game made in the East. Evoking the classic style of yesteryear, with a simplified story, characters with dungeon exploration abilities and battles that are at once simple and deep. Recommended for those who like Battle Chasers and Joe Madureira, but especially for those who love JRPGs!

MECHANICS:8

AUDIOVISUAL: 8

NARRATIVE: 8

TOTAL: 8

PC version